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Thursday, August 04, 2016

Call for Papers -- Section on Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Protection Program at the 2017 AALS Annual Meeting

We received the following announcement:

The Section on Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Protection is pleased to announce a Call for Papers from which up to two presenters will be selected for our program to be held during the AALS 2017 Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Friday, January 6, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. The topic of the program is "The Tenth Anniversary of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis: The State of Financial Reform and Consumer Financial Protection."

Program Description:

On March 28, 2007, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke before a Congressional committee concerning the "turmoil in the subprime mortgage market." While recognizing the "severe financial problems" that many "individuals and families" faced, he noted that, "[a]t this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained."

Days later, a leading subprime lender, New Century Financial Corporation would file for bankruptcy. By summer, with the downgrading of numerous subprime mortgage-linked securities and the collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds that were invested in such instruments, it became clear that the crisis was not contained.

Ten years later, we continue to reflect on both the profound pain and the tremendous progress.

This panel will assemble a range of academic and policy experts to consider the work completed and the work ahead. Topics will include the Dodd-Frank Act, bank capital requirements, systemic risk, consumer financial protection, and the ongoing race, economic justice and gender issues associated with the mortgage and financial crisis.

As the conference takes place during the last weeks of the presidential interregnum, attention will also be paid to what changes a new administration could bring.

Potential paper topics include, but are not limited to:

Legal tools for financial crisis prevention and intervention

The MetLife SIFI designation case (MetLife v. FSOC)

Impact of the mortgage and financial crisis on communities of color

Incoming administration's proposals to address financial stability

Incoming adminstration's proposals to address mortgage market

Reflections on efforts to rollback Dodd-Frank Act reforms

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Office of Financial Research

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Bank capital and liquidity requirements

Appeal of the AIG decision (Starr Int'l v. U.S.)

Form and length of submission:

This is a “research in progress” program, and includes research that is ongoing as well as recently completed work (papers may not be published or accepted for publication at the time of submission). Papers may be either in a short form (5,000-7,500 words) or a long form (10,000-25,000 words). Junior scholars are strongly encouraged to submit papers.

Submission due dates and method:

There are two submission due dates. The Section seeks detailed abstracts (approximately 250-500 words) in early fall, with final papers due in late fall.

•The due date for detailed abstracts is September 15, 2016.

•The due date for final papers is November 15, 2016.

Abstracts and papers should be submitted electronically to: Professor Jennifer Taub at jtaub@vermontlaw.edu